ICYMI: Montana Political Reads for 08 March 2015

This week’s reads include a couple of letters to the editor, the first time the f-bomb has appeared on the blog, and a Washington Post story promoted by Representative Art Wittich. Oh, the humanity!

Utilities wage campaign against rooftop solar – “Other studies commissioned by state regulators in Nevada and Mississippi found that any costs are generally outweighed by benefits. For one thing, researchers found, the excess energy generated by solar panels helps reduce the strain on electric grids on summer days when demand soars and utilities are forced to buy additional power at high rates. Other experts note that the shift to solar energy is helping states meet new federal requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also producing thousands of new jobs. The residential solar industry currently employs about 174,000 people nationwide, or twice as many as the number of coal miners.”The Washington Post

Same song, Seventh verse | – “The CSKT Compact is the last of seven water rights settlements for Indian tribes in Montana to be negotiated between the Tribes, the State and the Federal Government. All of those agreements provided state and federal funds to improve water delivery infrastructure on the reservations. All of the agreements involved, to some extent, off-reservation and downstream water. Since the CSKT Reservation contains, by far the most water of any Montana reservation the current agreement may be a bit further reaching, but it is also, by far, the best deal for the State of Montana, the Federal Government and for the CSKT. Failure of this final negotiated agreement due to bigotry and fear will certainly be “exponentially more costly for Montana taxpayers and the tribes.””The Button Valley Bugle

Zinke so far putting politics first -Letter to the Editor – “You can easily find Zinke, a former Navy seaman – on a cable news network advocating for America to return to war in the name of national security, but his vote to shut down the government agency in charge of securing our nations borders proves that Zinke is more interested in scoring political points than keeping Montanans safe.”Sandi Messinger

Zinke’s early stance not promising for Montana – “Zinke, just sworn into his first term last November, campaigned on a promise to work with colleagues across the aisle on legislation that would move the country forward, that would do what’s best for Americans and Montanans.Instead, he has apparently chosen to align himself with the extreme right of the Republican Party and cast our state’s lone vote in the House in a disturbingly misguided statement of futility.”Bozeman Daily Chronicle

TEA Party Lawmaker Caught Telling Whoppers About Sponsoring ALEC Bill – “A TEA Party lawmaker with ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC has been caught coordinating with the organization on an ALEC model bill after claiming that the corporate bill mill had nothing to do with his legislation. The bill in question is SB 314 a bill Sen. Roger Webb is sponsoring which would create an “Interstate pipeline compact.””MT Cowgirl

Why we can’t prove what we know is true about fracking and water contamination – “This is why local communities feel they need to take control of protecting themselves. This is why community leaders in Carbon and Stillwater counties are fighting to establish districts in which they can require oil companies to do baseline water testing and then periodic testing afterward to make sure their water is safe. This is not radical environmentalism. This is just landowners protecting their water. In rural communities like those along the Beartooth Front, water is life.” Preserve the Beartooth Front

Viewpoint: Bonding is prudent money management (Evan Barrett) – “The path should be just as clear for the Montana Legislature, but prudent money management rules apparently do not apply in the political world of the 2015 Legislature. The Legislature should not be cutting back on needed infrastructure investment for the state’s future. Nor should it deplete our cash and drive down our rainy day fund (reserves) by a cash spending spree. Montana should affordably borrow half the money for infrastructure, pay cash for the other half and make sure it maintains its reserves and current high standings on business taxes and individual tax fairness. Those actions would be in keeping with the state’s ranking as the most financially prudent state in the nation.”Ravalli Republic

Federal land transfer bill should be killed – “Montana has a balanced budget now, but even a responsible state like ours would have trouble coming up with many millions of dollars to manage large chunks of federal land. Are Montanans willing to accept huge tax increases to pay for added responsibilities? That’s not likely.”Great Falls Tribune

Conservatives trying to wreck public education (Patricia Rosenleaf) – “Why else would extremist Montana legislators be trying to destroy a perfectly good school system where our students regularly score in the top 10 percent of the states? I see an answer which dovetails with the at-base reason for most of the extreme right’s motivation: greed. “Great Falls Tribune

If you appreciate an independent voice holding Montana politicians accountable and informing voters, and you can throw a few dollars a month our way, we would certainly appreciate it.

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About the author

Don Pogreba

Don Pogreba is an eighteen-year teacher of English, former debate coach, and loyal, if often sad, fan of the San Diego Padres and Portland Timbers. He spends far too many hours of his life working at school and on his small business, Big Sky Debate.
His work has appeared in Politico and Rewire.
In the past few years, travel has become a priority, whether it's a road trip to some little town in Montana or a museum of culture in Ísafjörður, Iceland.

FREEEEE DUMB! Yes, freedumb. It’s what the Kockh inspired teatards are all about! You can have ALL the free dumb you want. What you CAN’T have is democracy! Get that? So, while all the inbreds like ms. fiddler move here to Montana like some conquistadors of old to claim this wild, unclaimed wilderness called Montana for her Big Kockh benefactors, remember this: in exchange for free dumb, you must give UP any notions of democracy! Can’t have actual living breathing people make decisions. Think about that for a moment. All the free dumb your can handle, but no democracy. I’d say that what we have here is a failure to communicate! Guns and Jeezus for you, and everything ELSE for ms. fiddler’s Big Kockh buddies! Welcome to Teatard world! For like Kris’s old song, freedumb’s just another word for nuthin’ left to lose. But with Jeezus, you’ve got all you need!http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/professor-at-koch-funded-university-department-calls-for-less-democracy/
One Kockh, one vote! Ten of you, one vote!

Here’s a leetle background on just who is pulling little ms. fiddler’s leash! She’s poodlecious for these fellas! That’s why, even as the GF Spitoon points out, she’s making a complete horse’s ass out of herself and our state! She BYPASSED their ring and went straight to kissing the Kockh brothers’ ass! In other words, she streamlined the process to make it more efficient!http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/inside-the-koch-brothers-toxic-empire-20140924